About the Professional Learning Community

Sounds of the Circle honors the environment of collegiality, peer mentorship, generative competition, and collective exploration of North Philly jazz community by hosting a professional learning community (PLC) of 14 local jazz players who gather regularly to interpret Odean Pope’s compositions, explore new techniques and strategies, and trade improvisations without the pressure of preparing for performances and meeting deadlines. The aim of the PLC is to create a space of well-wishing and mutual support where musicians can grow, and support each others’ growth, by taking musical risks and embracing uncertainties and challenges.

The PLC sessions are facilitated by Odean and two accomplished performers/educators, pianist/composer Tom Lawton and saxophonist Julian Pressley. The group is multi-generational: the artists range in age from their 20s to their 80s, from talented apprentices in jazz to well-seasoned veterans. In addition to regular plenary sessions, which routinely include invited guests, there are occasional “drop-in” sessions to focus on particular instruments or strategies.

Our hope is that after the Sounds of the Circle project concludes, participants in the PLC will be motivated to incorporate aspects of the experience into their own artistic practices. Check out photos from a May, 2019 PLC session. (Our gratitude to the Germantown Branch of Settlement Music School for providing space for the PLC sessions.)